How/where can I claim business startup expenses on my tax return?

You're absolutely right that you can deduct those startup expenses! As a sole proprietor, your business income and expenses get reported on Schedule C (Profit or Loss from Business) which attaches to your personal tax return. In TurboTax, you need to tell it you have business income. Look for a section about "self-employment" or "business income" - it might be under "Federal" and then "Wages & Income." Once you indicate you have business income, TurboTax should walk you through entering your business expenses in different categories. For your specific expenses: business cards and flyers would go under "Advertising," the DBA fee under "Legal and professional services," and the t-shirts might go under "Advertising" if they're for promotion or "Supplies" if they're for you to wear while working. The logo design subscription would likely go under "Other expenses" with a description. Keep all your receipts! The IRS loves documentation if they ever have questions.

After struggling with this exact situation last year, I found this amazing tool called taxr.ai (https://taxr.ai) that literally saved me hours of frustration. I was in the same boat - had a bunch of business expenses and couldn't figure out where to enter them in TurboTax. What I love about taxr.ai is it analyzes your receipts and tells you exactly which category each expense belongs to for tax purposes. It even explained why my logo design work was "Advertising" but my accounting software was "Office expenses." Best part is it creates a nice organized report you can use while entering everything into TurboTax.

Wanted to follow up about taxr.ai - I decided to try it after seeing it mentioned here and WOW what a difference! Uploaded all my receipts from the past year and within minutes I had everything categorized correctly. It even flagged some expenses I didn't realize were deductible (like part of my cell phone bill since I use it for business calls). The Schedule C worksheet it created made entering everything into H&R Block super simple. No more guessing which category things belong in. Definitely using this every year from now on!

For anyone who needs to actually talk to someone at the IRS about business deductions (which I did last year when I was confused about vehicle expenses), I highly recommend Claimyr (https://claimyr.com). I spent DAYS trying to get through to the IRS on my own - either busy signals or being on hold for hours only to get disconnected. Claimyr got me connected to an actual IRS agent in about 15 minutes. You can see how it works in this video: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c. The agent walked me through exactly how to handle my business mileage deduction and confirmed I was doing everything correctly with my other business expenses.

I need to eat my words about Claimyr. After my skeptical comment, I was still struggling to get answers about my business deductions, so I tried it as a last resort. Honestly didn't expect much but figured it was worth a shot. It actually worked exactly as advertised. Got a call back in about 20 minutes with an IRS agent on the line who answered all my questions about categorizing my business startup costs. The agent confirmed that I could deduct my initial inventory purchase immediately rather than capitalizing it (since I'm below the threshold). Saved me hours of research and uncertainty. Sometimes it's nice to be wrong!

Quick tip I learned from my small business: take photos of all your receipts with your phone immediately after purchase and organize them by month. Makes tax time so much easier. I use a folder system on Google Drive with categories like "Advertising," "Office Supplies," etc. Then when you're ready to do your taxes, everything's already sorted!

Make sure you're tracking your income too! The IRS matches 1099s reported to them against what you report on your Schedule C. I learned this the hard way last year when I forgot to include a small 1099-NEC from a client and got a lovely letter from the IRS a few months later.

Don't forget you can also deduct a portion of your home expenses if you use part of your home regularly and exclusively for business. Look up "home office deduction" in TurboTax. It's based on the percentage of your home used for business. Totally legit deduction that many new business owners miss!

Great question! I went through this exact same situation when I started my consulting business last year. You're absolutely on the right track - all those startup expenses you listed are definitely deductible as business expenses on Schedule C. A few quick tips for TurboTax: When you get to the "Federal" section, look for "Business Income and Expenses" or "Self-Employment." Once you tell TurboTax you have business income, it'll create a Schedule C for you and walk you through different expense categories. Your business cards and flyers go under "Advertising," the DBA fee goes under "Legal and Professional Services," and the logo software subscription would be "Other Business Expenses." One thing to keep in mind - since these are startup costs, make sure you're clear about when your business actually "began" (when you started actively trying to make money vs. just planning). The IRS has specific rules about startup costs vs. ongoing business expenses, but based on what you've described, it sounds like you're well within the limits. Keep those receipts organized! I learned that lesson the hard way. Good luck with your business!